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JACKSON — When you’re as locked in as Jackson’s Bodhi Wolford was on Friday, few teams have the capability to hang with the Ironmen.
The junior quarterback was perfect in the first half … literally 11-of-11 passing type of perfect. That equaled out to 247 yards and four touchdowns.
He ended up finishing 11-of-12 passing as his precision passing led Jackson (7-2, 4-0 FAC) to a 49-0 victory over Hillsboro in FAC action and clinching at least a share of the FAC title in the process.
“He and I spend a lot of time together watching film, bouncing ideas off of each other and I take his advice about what plays he likes since he’s the one on the field playing the game,” Jackson coach Andy Hall said. “I give a lot of credit to our offensive line for giving him a lot more time to operate, go through his reads and make some really great throws. Our receivers are running great routes and our play-action is a lot better than last year. Bodhi has had a great junior season. He’s improved every week and there’s still more to come.”
While Wolford’s numbers were video-game-like, it didn’t happen without receivers on the outside. Time and time again, Ryan Seimetz has proven to be his top guy.
The chemistry the two have built goes back to middle school, and they haven’t missed a beat since. Seimetz, much like Wolford, did all of his damage in the first half as he caught six passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.
“I think it’s been four years that we’ve been a quarterback-receiver duo, and we’ve been best friends ever since we were little,” Seimetz said of his connection with Wolford. “All this work goes back to freshman football, JV football and we’ve just carried it on week by week at the varsity level.”
Wolford didn’t waste any time getting to work.
On the second play of the game, he threw a strike to Seimetz on a slant, and the junior receiver did the rest for a 70-yard touchdown to go up 7-0.
From that moment on, Wolford spent the rest of the first half showcasing the accuracy.
Delivering one strike after another, he threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Tucker Williams, 13 yards to Gaven Jones and a final one from 27 yards to Charlie Woodard, with a 10-yard touchdown run from Nolan Johnson sandwiched in between, to make it 35-0 at halftime.
“It was 3rd and 15, so I knew that we needed a big play,” Woodard said of his touchdown. “I saw that I had a guy right beside as soon as I got the ball, but I knew that if something was going to happen, then I’d have to break that tackle and get loose to find the end zone.”
Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the coin, the Ironmen were having no issues stopping Hillsboro’s triple option offense.
Aside from one big play — a 24-yard run from Tre Captain — the Indians (3-6, 1-3 FAC) never found a rhythm as they were held to just 88 yards of total offense.
“We did a great job of playing assignment football. Going up against another triple option team, I thought the key was getting stops on first down,” Hall said. “We couldn’t let their fullback get off tackle for four to five yards, or else we’d never see the ball. Getting them in a lot of 2nd and 8 [situations] or more, it dictates their offense since they’re not a big passing team. Our guys did a great job of stopping the run and you can’t beat getting a shutout win, so I’m proud of our kids.”
Jackson got its final two scores on a 23-yard run from Johnson and a one-yard plunge from Tate Rosler to seal the envelope on a victory.
Johnson finished with 10 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns, Woodard had two catches for 49 yards with a touchdown, and Rosler had four carries for 25 yards with a score.
Jackson ends the regular season on Friday where it’ll go for a Gold Ball at Chillicothe. Meanwhile, Hillsboro will host McClain.
“We still do individual drills everyday in practice, and even at this point in the season where some teams will lay off certain things, we’re still going full throttle with hitting and everything,” Hall said. “Technique and fundamental things are emphasized from the first practice to the last one. We don’t change things just because the season is going. There’s still things we have to work on and we’ll continue to grow.”
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